Yesterday on National Trees Day, the Queensland Government released the latest Statewide Landcover and Trees Study (SLATS) report. The report shows 349,399 hectares of land was cleared during the reporting period of 2020-2021, cementing Queensland as the national leader in deforestation and continuing Australia’s unenviable international status as a hotspot for deforestation.

While welcoming the decrease in land clearing as shown in the 2020-2021 SLATS yesterday, the Wilderness Society and Queensland Conservation Council have recently acquired new footage, taken this year in Central Queensland, highlighting the devastating reality of broadscale land clearing. Land clearing and deforestation are still driving environmental destruction in Queensland.

Conservationists say the Queensland State Budget is a step in the right direction for threatened wildlife and the new protected areas they desperately need.

More than $215 million will be spent on national parks, both expanding the protected areas estate, funding its management and supporting co-management with First Nations Peoples.

The 2023 Queensland budget, released this week, has been an opportunity for the state to put its money where its mouth is when it comes to protecting our climate, communities and nature for future generations.

Overall this budget is extremely positive for the state. With record investment in long-term infrastructure for renewable energy projects, immediate cost-of-living relief on energy bills for all households, and funding to increase national parks and prevent land clearing, there are many things to celebrate.

Much of this has been funded by a modest increase in royalties on the superprofits of Queensland coal companies, meaning those who contributed most to the climate and cost of living crisis are finally helping pay for the renewable energy solutions.

More than 100,000 hectares of land - an area the size of almost 14,000 Suncorp Stadiums - was cleared over a two year period that was unexplained and required further investigation, according to a report which details the regulatory assessments behind the land clearing figures in Queensland. 

Queensland Conservation Council Nature Campaigner Natalie Frost said:

“This report contains shocking evidence that the government has no idea the true scale of land clearing.

Every single hectare of endangered species habitat is vital for the continuation of some of our most iconic species.”

“It’s clear that legislative loopholes and lack of enforcement by the Queensland Government allows broadscale deforestation to continue, particularly in endangered and of concern ecosystems. This 100,000 hectares is only a quarter of the 418,656 hectares of land clearing as per the latest government data.”

“What’s most shocking is the amount of clearing being done in areas with endangered and of concern regional ecosystems. In just two years, nearly 60,000 hectares of vulnerable forest and bushland were cleared that should have been protected.”

In 2017, Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk committed to end broadscale land clearing in Queensland. The latest statewide landcover and tree study (SLATS) report released in December last year coupled with the SLATS vegetation management analysis report reveals that Queensland continues to clear land at alarming rates with most clearing exempt from any regulation. 

“If we continue to clear forests at this rate there won’t be a future for species like the koala and greater glider. With the federal government releasing a plan to halt species extinctions, it’s imperative that the Queensland government addresses the out of control land clearing problem.”  

The Queensland Conservation Council has joined the Wilderness Society, Australian Conservation Foundation and WWF-Australia to form the Queensland Forests Alliance to advocate for the protection of Queensland’s iconic forests and woodlands.  

–ENDS–

The SLATS vegetation management analysis can be found here

The SLATS report can be found here

Contact:

Natalie Frost, Nature Campaigner, Queensland Conservation Council

0411 074 846

[email protected]